Mouthpiece-protector for telephone-transmitters.



C. T. SMITH MOUTHPIECE PROTECTOR FOR TELEPHONE TRANSMITTERS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 6, 1914'.

5 1 9 1 0 2 R p A d .w n w a P INVENTOR:

THE NORRIS PETERS CO4. PHOTc-LITHQ. WASHINGJUNT D C.

CHARLES T. SMITH, 0F NEWARK, NEW' JERSEY.

MOUTHPIECE-PROTECTOR FOR Application filed February 6,

T (ZZZ 20. mm it may concern Be it known that I, CHAnLns T. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in lVTOLltllPlGCQ-PIO- tectors for Telephone- Transmitters, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of this invention are to provide means for covering the transmitter mouthpiece of a telephone when not in use, so as to protect it from dirt, dust, germs and the like and make it more sanitary; to cover and uncover the mouthpiece automatically and without effort on the part of the user; to employ a swinging cap; to swing the covering cap well away from the opening of the mouthpiece while the telephone is in use; to provide a structure applicable to telephones now in use; to attach the device without marring or changing the telephone; to secure simplicity of construction and operation, and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a telephone to which my invention has been applied; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the upper end of a telephone showing my covering cap for the transmitter mouthpiece in closed position; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the cap in open position; Fig. l is a plan of the same; Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the mouthpiece and cap on line AA of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of a spring clip for attaching the operating rod to the telephone receiver arm.

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in said drawings the reference numeral 1 indicates the usual stand or body portion of a telephone having at its side a receiver arm 2 adapted to swing up and down and forked at its outer end to admit and support a receiver 3. It is to be understood that the receiver arm 2 is held in its lowered position by the weight of the receiver thereon and will swing up into its raised position with the removal of the receiver. Carried at the upper end of the stand 1 is the usual forwardly directed transmitter 4: having at its front a trumpetlike mouthpiece 5 the open flared end 6 of Specification of Letters Patent.

TELEPHONE-TRANSMITTERS.

Patented Apr. 2Q, 1915.

1e14,. Seria1No.81G,915.

which extends forwardly toward the speaker as is usual, whereas the smaller end of the mouthpiece is toward the transmitter 4L and inserted therein.

In carrying out my invention, I place a collar 7 around the mouthpiece 5 adjacent the transmitter 4, the diverging walls of the mouthpiece preventing said collar from slipping outward. This collar 7 is preferably made in opposite sections or halves separable upon a diametric plane, and each section is provided with ears 8 at its opposite ends in said plane adapted to lie flatwise against the corresponding ears of the other section, said ears being held together by a screw 9 or other suitable means. In thus securing the sections together it is also preferable to cause the sections to grip the mouthpiece between themselves and lie rigid therewith so as to maintain the ears 8 in a vertical plane. One of said cars at the top of the mouthpiece is extended longitudinally of itself and forms a bracket 10 to the upper end of which is pivoted, as at 11, an operating lever 33 hereinafter described.

For inclosing the outer end of the transmitter mouthpiece, I provide a cap 12 constituting a substantially circular end closure 13 provided with a peripheral skirt 1% conforming in'configuration with the outside lateral surface of the mouthpiece. Between the end closure 13 and the'skirt 14 the material comprising the cap is preferably bent radially outward forming an interior peripheral groove 15. The cap 12 is preferably divided into halves or cover sections 16, 16 separable upon'a vertical plane, one of said sections having an offset flange 17, along the edge upon which the sections separate, adapted to overlie the other section and prevent foreign matter from entering through the crevice. To aid in thus excluding foreign matter, the inner surface of the end closure 13 is lined, preferably with an antiseptic compressible pad 18 the periphery of which enters the groove 15 andis sup ported thereby. It will be readily appreciated that this lining 18 lies between the end closure 18 and the outer end of the mouthpiece, and it is intended to be pressed tightly against the peripheral end of the mouthpiece when the cover sections are closed together. This lining 18 is divided diametrically so that the halves are carried within opposite cover sections and adapted to come together when said sections are closed.

At the end of each skirt 14 toward the transmitter 4, I form an outer transverse curl or hinge sleeve 19 preferably integral with the skirt and parallel to the plane dividing the sections. A pivot rod 21 extends through each of these sleeves 19 and is secured thereto so as to turn with the section. For pivotally supporting the pivot rods, suitable brackets 34- extend from the collar toward the outer end of the mouthpiece, said brackets being arranged in opposite pairs and each pairfcarrying one of said rods. By this means the cover sections are pivoted to themouthpiece and may be swung apart so as not to, interfere with the use of the telephone, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, or may be swung together to exclude the dirt and dust and maintain the mouthpiece in clean and sanitary condition. It is preferable to, perform this opening and closing of the cover sections automatically and together, and to this end I provide the operating lever 33 above mentioned. This lever extends from the point of pivoting on the bracket 10, forwardly in front of the pivot rods of the cover sections and is forked with its prongs22 overlying upon opposite sides of the skirts 14. By swinging the fork forward, the prongs engage the skirts and wedgingly force the cover sections together, forward movement of the fork being limited by stops 23 protruding from the cover sections and against which the prongs come in contact as the fork is swung forward. As shown in the drawing, these stops are stamped up out of the walls of the skirts and the end portions of the stops are returned to substantial parallel relation with said skirts. By this construction the prongs of the fork enter under the stops as well as being limited in movement thereby.

In order to swing the cover sections apart or open when the fork is swung backward, I extend the pivot rods 21, 21 beyond the mouthpiece and bend each backwardly toward the transmitter 1, providing corresponding offsets 2 1, 24: between which extends a tension spring 25. The tendency thus is to normally swing said offsets toward each other and the cover sections apart, so that by merely retracting the fork said cover sections are opened by the spring.

In order to automatically remove the cap when the telephone is in use and replace the cap when the telephone is notinuse, I connect the operating lever 33 at its end above the pivotal support 11 to the receiver arm 2, as for instance by the rod 26, which is preferably flexible, so that as the receiver arm 2 swings up, carrying the rod 26 with it, the fork is caused to swing back, and allow the cover sections 16, 16 to open apart. By returning the receiver 3 to place, the receiver arm 2 is swung down carrying the rod 26 and swinging the operating lever 33 to close the cover sections 16, 16, as above described.

F or attaching the rod 26 to the receiver arm, 1 form the end of the rod into a resilient clip 27, as shown in Fig. (3. The rod approaches the receiver arm at right angles and is bent to extend parallel to and on top of the arm as at 28. It is then bent transverse to the receiver arm and given a complete turn around the arm, as at 29, after which it is returned adjacent and parallel to the first mentioned portion 28 on top of the arm, as at 30. This portion 30 extends beyond the parallel. portion 28 and at a distance there-from is bent laterally into a complete turn around the arm, as at 31, and then bent, as at 32, toward the first mentioned portion 27. In this manner a clip is provided for attaching the rod 26 to the receiver arm without injury to the arm.

Obviously instead of having a spring open the cap sections and a lever close them, such arrangement might be reversed and the spring close the cap. sections and the lever open them, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Other means of operating the cap sections might also be used, as necessary or desirable to adapt my invention to different kinds of telephone, wall, desk, or the like, and the cap itself might be made in any other suitable manner to effect the purpose set forth. In fact, any detail modifications may be made in the mechanical embodiment of my invention, so long as my inventive idea of a protector for the mouthpiece adapted to be automatically operated by the ordinary use of the telephone is preserved, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself except as may be required by the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art.

Having thus described the invention what I claim is:

1. A protector for telephone t'ansmitter mouth-pieces, comprising a support adapted to be mounted on the mouthpiece, cap sections pivoted to said support, and means mounted on said support and adapted to be engaged by a movable part of the telephone and actuated thereby to operate said cap sections.

2. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to be mounted on the mouthpiece, cap sections pivoted to said support, resilient means normally tending to operate said cap sections in one direction, and means mounted on said support adapted at one end to engage the receiver a-rm and at the other end to. engage said cap to operate the same in the other direction.

3. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising support adapted to be mounted on the mouthpiece, and cap sections pivoted to said support adapted to cover or uncover the mouthpiece as desired. t. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to be mounted on the mouthpiece, cap sections pivoted to said support, and a forked lever adapted to engage opposite sides of said cap sections for operating the same.

5. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising opposite hinged cap sections, a forked lever adapted to engage opposite sides of said cap sections for operating the same, and means for swinging said lever.

6. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to be clamped to the smaller end of a telephone mouthpiece and providing a bracket, cap sections pivoted to said support and adapted to close over the larger end of said transmitter mouthpiece a forked lever pivoted to said bracket adapted to close said cap sections together, and means for swinging said lever.

7. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to be clamped to the smaller end of a telephone mouthpiece and providing a bracket, cap sections pivoted to said support and adapted to close over the larger end of said transmitter mouthpiece, a spring normally removing said cap sections from in front of the mouthpiece, a forked lever pivoted to said bracket adapted to close said cap sections together, and means for swinging said lever.

8. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to be clamped to the smaller end of a telephone mouthpiece and providing a bracket, cap sections pivoted to said support and adapted to close over the larger end of said transmitter mouthpiece, a spring normally removing said cap sections from in front of the mouthpiece, a forked lever pivoted to said bracket adapted to close said cap sections together, and a rod providing a spring clip at one end adapted to engage the receiver arm of the telephone and pivoted at the other end to said lever whereby said cap sections may be swung by operating the receiver arm.

9. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to encircle the neck of the mouthpiece adjacent the transmitter in fixed relation thereto, opposite cap sections pivoted to said support to swing toward each other to cover the transmitter and away from each other to uncover it, and means for swinging said cap sections in opposite directions as the receiver is taken off the hook and replaced.

10. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to encircle the neck of the mouthpiece adjacent the transmitter in fixed relation thereto, opposite cap sections pivoted to said support to swing toward each other to cover the transmitter and away from each other to uncover it, resilient means normally tending to operate said cap sections in one direction, and means mounted on said support adapted at one end to engage the receiver arm and at the other end to engage said cap sections to operate the same in the other direction.

11. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted.

to encircle the neck of cent the transmitter in to, opposite cap sections pivoted to said support to swing toward each other to cover the transmitter and away from each other to uncover it, a spring normally tending to open said cap sections, and means mounted on said support adapted at one end to enthe receiver arm and at the other end to engage the cap sections to close them.

12. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to encircle the neck of the mouthpiece adjacent the transmitter in fixed relation thereto, opposite cap sections pivoted to said support to swing toward each other to cover the transmitter and away from each other to uncover it, a spring normally tending to open said cap sections, a forked lever adapted to engage said cap sections and close them together, and means for swinging said lever.

13. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to encircle the neck of the mouthpiece adj acent the transmitter in fixed relation thereto, opposite cap sections pivoted to said support to swing toward each other to cover the transmitter and away from each other to uncover it, a spring normally tending to open said cap sections, a forked lever adapted to engage said cap sections and close them together, and a rod fixed to the receiver arm at one end and to said forked lever at the other end whereby said lever is swung when the receiver arm is raised or lowered.

14-. A protector for telephone transmitter mouthpieces, comprising a support adapted to encircle the neck of the mouthpiece adjacent the transmitter in fixed relation thereto, opposite cap sections pivoted at the smaller end of the mouthpiece and flaring outwardly toward the larger end of the mouthpiece, means for normally swinging said cap sections to uncover the mouthpiece, and a forked lever adapted to be swung to engage upon opposite sides of said cap sections and wedgingly force them together to cover the mouthpiece.

15. A protector for telephone transmitter the mouthpiece adjafixed relation theremouthpieces comprising a support adapted the cap sections whereby movement toward the outer end of the mouthpiece will cause the forked lever to engage upon opposite sides of said cap sections and wedgingly force them together to cover the mouthpiece. 15

CHARLES T. SMITH.

Witnesses:

HOWARD P. KING, JANET A. AYERs.

Copiesof-thispatent-maybe obtained for five cents each, -by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

